reporter丨He Anan
comes from the news released by the National Public Radio (NPR) on May 26, local time, American designer, illustrator, children's picture book writer and children's literature writer, Eric Carle (Eric Carle) Died on May 23 at his summer studio in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was 91. The source said the tragic news came from a family statement, which said Ari Carr passed away peacefully surrounded by his family. News from " New York Times " stated that according to his son Rolf, the cause of death was kidney failure. Eric Carr continued to paint until his death.
Eric Carle (Eric Carle, June 25, 1929 - May 23, 2021)
Eric Carle's most famous work is " So Hungry" which he created using Collage (Collage) "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) is one of the best-selling children's books of all time. "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" tells the story of a small and hungry caterpillar who, after eating a lot of food, turned into a beautiful butterfly. The famous caterpillar in the story, first published in 1969, is said to be as colorful and friendly as himself. The story, which contains only 224 words in the original text, has been translated into more than 70 languages and has sold more than 55 million copies worldwide.
Ari Carr shows how The Very Hungry Caterpillar was created. In the
book, the caterpillar ate an apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, and three plums on Wednesday... On Saturday, he ate a piece of chocolate cake , an ice cream, a cucumber, a piece of cheese, A ham, a lollipop, a cherry pie, a sausage, a cup cake and a slice of watermelon, which gave him a stomach ache. The interesting plot that allows children to empathize with the book, coupled with the colorful food, can easily arouse children's interest in reading in younger age groups.
Ari Carr wrote more than 70 books in his lifetime, and in 2003, he won the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his contribution to American children's literature. Most of his works are related to insects and other animals, such as "So Quiet Cricket", "So Busy Spider", "So Lonely Firefly", "So Slow, So Slow, So Slow Sloth" "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what are you looking at? "wait.
Artwork by Ari Carr.
When I was a little boy,
my father would take me on long walks through the meadows and woods.
On June 25, 1929, Ari Carr was born in Syracuse, New York, . In some previous interviews with him, Eric Carle believed that his childhood was full of light and art, which gave him a lot of inspiration. His father took him through many roads and led him to see colorful things. of nature. In his official website, Ari Carr mentioned: "When I was a little boy, my father would take me on walks in the meadows and woods. He would lift stones or peel off the bark of trees and point them at me. Show the creature he is searching for. He will tell me the life cycle of this or that critter, and then he will carefully return the critter to his home."
Ari Carr with his dog Tok in 1984. . Tok was named after a character in the book The Phantom Tollbooth by Carl's friend Norton Juster.
Eric Carr believes that he paid tribute to his father through the little creatures in his works. "In a sense, I regained those happy times." Eric Carr's father once dreamed of becoming a He was an artist, but because his grandfather was a customs officer, he stubbornly believed that there would be no "starving artists" in his family, so his father could only become a municipal clerk. But Carl's father never lost interest in painting. He often drew pictures for the young Carl, most of which were animal drawings .
When Ari Carr was in first grade, Miss Frickey discovered his love for drawing and pointed it out to Carr's mother.Regarding this past event, Ari Carr said: “Although I don’t remember her face, I can still recall her kindness and grace in the sunny classroom, as well as the bright paints, brushes and wide white paper. ."
Ari Carr as a child, 1934.
In 1935, Eric Carle returned to Germany to settle down with his parents. However, he did not like German-style education, which made his teenage years unhappy. After the end of World War II , Ari Carr, who had shown talent for painting since childhood and yearned for freedom and romance, entered the Stuttgart Art Academy to study commercial design. After graduation, he worked as an art director in a fashion magazine. In 1952, Ari Carr returned to the United States with $40 in savings and began working for the New York Times.
Let children find happiness in books,
"This opportunity changed my life"
Ari Carr's publishing career began in 1967. Prior to this, educator and author Bill Martin Jr. noticed Carr's red lobster illustrations for advertisements and invited him to collaborate on a picture book. He thought of the large sheets of paper in school, the brightly colored paints, and the oil brushes , which made him realize that something special could be done to allow children to find joy in expressive books." This opportunity changed my life.” In this year, he published Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Are You Looking at? ", which was quickly followed by "1, 2, 3 to the Zoo" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".
Talking about the creation story of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", Eric Carr said that at that time he wanted to create a historical cookbook, so he thought of caterpillars that like to devour, so he showed the editor a line on the paper The idea for a story about a caterpillar that couldn’t stop eating quickly turned into the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
In 2002, Eric Carr and his wife founded the Eric Carr Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts, inspired by a picture book museum they visited during a visit to Japan.
Eric Carr Museum of Picture Book Art.
In Ari Carr's personal official website, he answered many questions about himself. For example, he has a sister, Christa, who is 21 years younger than him, and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" is actually a work dedicated to her. Ari Carr’s wife, Bobbie, who died in 2015, worked in early childhood special education. Daughter Cirsten and son Rolf both studied art. Additionally, he has an orange cat named Mitzi.
Eric Carr’s personal official website homepage (screenshot).
A few years ago, Ari Carr decided to take a break from picture book creation and take a vacation for himself. During this time, he began to create abstract designs using very thin paper, while experimenting with materials such as silk fabrics, flat glass, aluminum foil, and plastic protective film. In the subsequent creation of picture books, Eric Carle no longer used white as the background. He began to place the animals in the story in front of bright colored tissue paper panels as the background. "The abstract art I took the time to create influenced my book design. I enjoy abstract design as a source of entertainment and creative enjoyment, and I call it 'art.'"
In 2019, The Very Hungry Caterpillar was published for five years On the 10th anniversary, Eric Carr said in a commemorative video released by Penguin Random House, "I think this is a book full of hope." He said: "Children need hope. Little caterpillars, you can grow Become a beautiful butterfly and fly into the world with your own talents. Can I do it? Yes, you can. I think that's the appeal of that book."
Ari Carr in his studio. Currently working on "Do Kangaroos Have Mothers?" 》.
reporter | He Anan
editor | Shen Chan
proofreader | Wang Xin
Source: Beijing News website
